what year is safe rust wise

have you spotted rust on your car ? click the year if YES.

  • I have no rust ! [please comment below with model & year]

    Votes: 315 21.6%
  • 2006

    Votes: 46 3.1%
  • 2005

    Votes: 70 4.8%
  • 2004

    Votes: 97 6.6%
  • 2003

    Votes: 123 8.4%
  • 2002

    Votes: 179 12.3%
  • 2001

    Votes: 227 15.5%
  • 2000

    Votes: 190 13.0%
  • 1999

    Votes: 149 10.2%
  • 1998

    Votes: 172 11.8%
  • 2007

    Votes: 18 1.2%
  • 2008

    Votes: 9 0.6%
  • 2009

    Votes: 6 0.4%
  • 2010

    Votes: 4 0.3%
  • 2011

    Votes: 5 0.3%
  • 2012

    Votes: 4 0.3%
  • 2013

    Votes: 3 0.2%
  • 2014

    Votes: 6 0.4%

  • Total voters
    1,461

r129sl500

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May 27, 2014
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Location
London
Your Mercedes
1995 Mercedes SL500
Yr 2000 CLK 2.0K rust, rust, rust. Waste of £35000. Never again Mercedes.

Seems like 2000/2001 was a particularly bad time to buy a new Merc. My Dad's 2001 Y reg CLK 320 started rusting on all 4 wheel arches and front grille a couple of years ago. Was a lovely car and sad to get rid of it but when it started to rust we thought it best to move on.
 

Marcel-Anthony

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Apr 2, 2014
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Age
51
Location
Newcastle
Your Mercedes
C350 Amg Sport Coupe, ML300, Slk 200k
CLK MY 2004, Reg Date Aug 2004, its also the face lift model, this was supposed to be a galvanised shell but both rear arches are gone. Will be getting attention in the late summer.
 

rf065

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Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
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Location
Grossbritannien
Your Mercedes
SLC300 - C250d Estate 4 Matic & Z900rs
CLK MY 2004, Reg Date Aug 2004, its also the face lift model, this was supposed to be a galvanised shell but both rear arches are gone. Will be getting attention in the late summer.

If it's anything like my CLK, Dec 2005 reg, the front arches show rust about a year after the rears. Also, removed plastic trim (on boot) covering rear of car to replace number plate light and found it was very rusty around the boot lock and number plate holes.

Russ
 

smithy22

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May 17, 2014
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Location
east harling
Your Mercedes
300td/1992/2998cc slk 230
my 2001 w203 coupe the paint falls off it ,front and back wings rusting. my 1992 w124 300td has no rust
 

V8RUMBLE

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Joined
Jun 5, 2010
Messages
134
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Location
Northants
Your Mercedes
2000 S430 on Lpg, 1966 Pontiac Ventura on Lpg, MK2 Granada with Cosworth power
You may not have rust on the surface but if you start removing plastic covers etc I think you will find more than you had bargained for.
 

dozypillock

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2014
Messages
251
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1
Location
Lancing, West Sussex
Your Mercedes
CLK 320 Elegance 2002 C209
I have a CLK320 C209 model 2002 and it appears totally rust free at moment. Was this a good year?

Neil
 

rf065

Senior Member
Joined
May 30, 2007
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Location
Grossbritannien
Your Mercedes
SLC300 - C250d Estate 4 Matic & Z900rs
I have a CLK320 C209 model 2002 and it appears totally rust free at moment. Was this a good year?

Neil

Probably one of the worst years to be honest, maybe it was resprayed before you bought it?

Russ
 

Arzaam

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Joined
Oct 13, 2014
Messages
651
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49
Age
27
Location
Pakistan
Your Mercedes
W203 2002 c180
i have a 2002 w203 c class, no rust at all, it japanese spec, is it due to that or the fact that its hardly driven? so far clocked up 87600miles as is from factory no extra treatment done. though its garaged
 
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ajlsl600

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Joined
Nov 18, 2013
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Location
france
Your Mercedes
clk3202001,sl6002003 with everything regrettably sold ,A class 170cdi auto. NG/TF1800 ML250
I could not put it in a car wash, I just use a damp face flannel :rolleyes:

not a chance of car wash , sometimes de ionised water rinse on power washer as it leaves no smears but never near wing vents since i started reading this forum .
 

dozypillock

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2014
Messages
251
Reaction score
1
Location
Lancing, West Sussex
Your Mercedes
CLK 320 Elegance 2002 C209
Probably one of the worst years to be honest, maybe it was resprayed before you bought it?

Russ

According to the galvanized thread, I may be one of the lucky ones, especially as mine lives within range of sea salt spray.

CLK CLASS – 209 series

All steel panels were galvanised from Quarter 2 2003 production onwards.
During the previous six months (Q4 2002 + Q1 2003) the process was
gradually introduced on the production line and therefore some vehicles
were galvanised during this lead-up period, but not all.


Neil
 

rf065

Senior Member
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
3,520
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998
Location
Grossbritannien
Your Mercedes
SLC300 - C250d Estate 4 Matic & Z900rs
According to the galvanized thread, I may be one of the lucky ones, especially as mine lives within range of sea salt spray.

CLK CLASS – 209 series

All steel panels were galvanised from Quarter 2 2003 production onwards.
During the previous six months (Q4 2002 + Q1 2003) the process was
gradually introduced on the production line and therefore some vehicles
were galvanised during this lead-up period, but not all.


Neil

Mine was built Dec 05, fully galvanised, and repaired twice by Mercedes for rust which started when only 4 years old. Don't let the "galvanised" bit fool you.

Russ
 

grober

Senior Member
Joined
May 15, 2002
Messages
2,947
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27
Location
Scotland
Your Mercedes
W204 C200cdi estate
pretty simple really
Company history
Benz & Company, 1883–1926
Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft AG, 1890–1926
Daimler-Benz AG, 1926–1998
DaimlerChrysler AG, 1998–2007
Daimler AG, 2007–present


Jürgen Erich Schrempp
Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Bavarian Order of Merit
Medal of Merit of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg
Commander of the National Order of Merit of the French Republic
Commander of the French Legion of Honour
The Vatican City’s Cross of the St. Gregorius Order
Austrian Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold with Star for Services
Brazilian Southern Cross.
CEO Daimler- Benz 1995- 2005
 

tiswas

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
106
Reaction score
7
Your Mercedes
1999 280 SL
Sadly my 1999 SL 280 is showing its age with all the wheel arches starting to rust and bubbling around where the front panel meets the bumper. Shame as looking pretty good otherwise.

No doubt I can expect a 4 figure quote from the local body shops (watford) to sort that out!
 

television

Always remembered RIP
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
Messages
164,073
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Age
89
Location
Daventry
Your Mercedes
2002 SL500, 216 CL500, all fully loaded
Either new wings or new metal welded in, sadly I have now lost all my contacts from Watford, my home town once.
 

Christian

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2011
Messages
710
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34
Location
Horsham
Your Mercedes
w205 AMG Edition, Panasonic washing machine :)
My w208 has no rust at all. My w220 had some on rear arches
 

Bill_H

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Joined
Jan 4, 2011
Messages
13
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0
Location
SOuthampton area
Your Mercedes
E350 W212 Bluetec 2013
Rust showing? Where isnt it rusty

W210 Avantgarde year 2000 2.6 V6 petrol. Undoubtedly the most rusty car Ive ever owned, even worse than a BL Metro many years ago.
It rusted EVERYWHERE - so dissappointing, boot lid, tops and bottome of doors around headlights around wheelarches, rust even broke out in the middle of panels where there were no chips. This was a car that was loved and cared for cleaned regularly and generally looked after. Final straw was suspension rusted through and front N/S spring 'perch' ripped off resulting in suspension collapse. Repaired that and sold it for £800.
Mechanically great car, but that rust - I really debated about whether to but another Merc, in the end went for it as I thought that Merc would really pay attention to ensure there was no rust on newer cars.
The W212 E350 Bluetec I bought is just a dream. Best car Ive ever owned.
 
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